US ties with C’bean still strong

Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean can expect great things in their future as it pertains to the relations between them and the United States of America.

That was the message from Yolonda Kerney, the new Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, as she and the two other new members of staff at the Embassy spoke during their welcome reception to the Grenada Advocate.

From left: Ralph Hamilton, Management Counsellor;
Chief Political and Economic Officer, Nicholle Manz; and
Public Affairs Officer, Yolonda Kerney, with Dr. Larry Palmer,
US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The Welcome Reception, which was held at the residence of the US Ambassador, Dr. Larry Palmer, was an opportunity for the newest members to not only be welcomed, but also be introduced to many of the people they may be working with over the next three years.

The reception welcomed Yolonda Kerney, the New Public Affairs Officer; Nicholle Manz, who is the Section Chief in the department of Political and Economic Affairs; and Ralph Hamilton, who will
be working as the Management Counsellor.

The three new additions, who would have arrived two months ago and have already commenced working, expressed that they were excited to be in Barbados and looked forward to working heavily with all of the nations of the Eastern Caribbean.

As noted by Kerney, “Every country is different. Every country is like a person. Every person is different, even if they look similar and have similar accents, they have their own personalities and their own sort of vibe, so that is the joy of the foreign service for me, sort of figuring out how things are done here, how people think and function here. That is the great joy of this job.”

As noted by Kerney, “If I had to have a message for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, it’s that I think that the United States is a strong and frankly irreplaceable partner when it comes to many of the things in my present portfolio.”

Continuing, she further noted, “Really, just to look at the history of our relations in this region and look at our commitment in this region, that’s our past and our present and we expect great things in our future relations.”

With the fiscal year commencing just a couple of weeks ago, Kerney explained that they were now looking at programmes that had worked well in the past, as well as those that they believe can and will work even better in the future.